By Luis Montes
UHCLIDIAN STAFF

"Breaking New Ground" was the theme at the Sixth Annual Student Leadership Conference Nov. 1-2 in the Bayou Building.

The featured keynote speaker at the conference was former UH-Clear Lake assistant professor of communication Susanne Gaddis. Gaddis has since become a nationally recognized motivational speaker.

Susanne Gaddis speaks at the Sixth Annual
Student Leadership Conference (above).
photo by Natalie Seifert

Gaddis' presentation, "Unwrapping the Gifts We Have Been Given," focused on encouraging people to give the special gifts that they have been given-words of encouragement, smiles, hugs, laughter-and to do so willingly.

"I have a firm belief that everyone has been put here on earth to do something special and my special gift is to share tips, tools and techniques with others so that they can become better communicators in life," Gaddis said.

"It was very interesting to hear her speak," said Charles Little, a student from Galveston Community College. "I was very motivated and I felt that I could relate to her experiences."

"The crowd was great and it was wonderful to come back to UHCL and see so many familiar faces," Gaddis said.

There were approximately 235 students from all over the state who attended the leadership conference.

"The conference was a great success in many aspects," said David Rachita, assistant dean of student life.

Following Gaddis' speech there was a carnival in Atrium I from 9:15-11 p.m. The featured entertainment included karaoke, salsa dancing, limbo, a sundae bar and an on-sight caricature artist.

"The salsa dancing was cool, and watching the karaoke singers was very interesting," said Andre Hodges, a student from McLennan Community College. "I sang a song myself, Michael Jackson's Black or White."

"The carnival was fun and I was able to interact with some new people," Little said. "I liked the karaoke set up and I was even able to sing a little Al Green."

"UHCL student organizations were very strong participants," said Sue Fellman, coordinator of student life. "They provided the different booths and activities at the carnival and provided most of the door prizes that were given away. We had great student volunteers who put in long hours and a lot of hard work."

There were 16 educational sessions that were divided into groups of four at the conference and participants could choose up to four of the sessions. One of the sessions was, "From Backpack to Briefcase: Carrying Student Leadership into the Workplace," presented by Mary Selby, career counselor at UH-Clear Lake. Selby focused on how people could identify the skills that future employers seek and how to effectively develop a resume.

"The [Backpack to Briefcase] session was good and it had a lot of insight to the workforce," Hodges said. "She went over important things like how to do a resume, how to prepare for an interview and how to dress for an interview."

In "Handling Conflict Through Peaceful Resolution," presented by Laurie Donley and Ondre Kuhn, both mediation coordinators and co-owners of Kudos Mediation, focused on how communicators could effectively communicate through handling conflict through a respectful, creative and positive manner.

"The session was great and the crowd was very responsive," Donley said. "It's great to get people to talk and express their thoughts and feelings. We must understand our common ground among others to understand conflict."

"Strategies for Working with Diverse Populations Using a Positive Attitude," presented by James Shippy, associate vice president at College of the Mainland, focused on how people could develop and interact with the various diverse populations that make up today's society and to do so with a positive attitude.

"This year's presentations were perhaps the most diverse as well as having the best content," Rachita said. "Several of the presentations came from professionals within the community and from other schools. It's always important to the diversity and credibility of sessions to have ideas from both within and without the sponsoring university."

"[The conference] truly was a team effort of the Student Life Office, the dean of students' office, student leaders and volunteers, student organizations, Student Government Association and other campus offices who believe in leadership development and what we are trying to accomplish by sponsoring the conference every year," Fellman said.

Following the interest sessions, conference visitors participated in a closing reception that included refreshments and door prizes. For more information on UH-Clear Lake's Seventh Annual Student Leadership Conference scheduled Nov. 7-8, 2003, stop by the Student Life Office, located in Room 1602 in the Bayou Building, or call (281) 283-2560.

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